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Poor Knights Islands Scuba Diving Sites
The Poor Knights Islands are a group of uninhabited islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They are located 50 kilometers to the northeast of Whangarei, and lie 24 kilometers offshore half way between Bream Head and Cape Brett.
The chain consists of two large islands (Aorangi and Tawhiti Rahi) with a group of smaller islets between the two, the largest of which is called Motu Kapiti. The name Tawhiti Rahi is also used as a name for the entire chain by Māori. The total area of the chain is 24 km².
The islands are protected as a nature reserve and a permit is required to land or tie boats up. Permits are usually granted only for scientific research.
The waters for 800 metres around the islands are a marine reserve in which it is prohibited to disturb marine life or remove rocks or shells. No commercial fishing is permitted within one nautical mile (1,852 metres) and long lining is the only commercial fishing permitted between one and three nautical miles. The islands are a popular scuba diving location due to the variety of marine fauna found there, and are popular also for their intriguing landforms, which include natural arches and caves.
A notable native plant of the islands is the spectacularly-flowering Poor Knights lily.
The origin of the name is said to derive from the islands' apparent resemblance to Poor Knight's Pudding, a bread-based dish popular at the time of discovery by Europeans.
Text from Wikipedia
Scuba Diving Sites of Poor Knights Islands
Airbubble Caves , Ann's Rock/Astrid's Wall , Bartles Bay , Bird Rock , Blue Maomao Arch , Butterfish Bay , Cathedral Cave , Cave Bay , Cleaner Fish Bay , Cream Gardens , Crinoid Cliff , Crystal Cave , Dark Forest , Dutch Cove , Fraser's Landing , Fred's Pinnicle , Gentle Forest , Giant Staircase , Hope Point , Imagination Point , Jan's Tunnel , Kahawai Point , Labrid Channel , Landing Bay Pinnicle , Long Cave , Magic Wall , MaoMao Arch , Mary's Wall , Meditation Wall/Brady's Corner , Middle Arch/Bernies Cave , Middle Channel , Mine Shaft Cave , Ngoio Reef , Northern Arch , Nursery Cove , Oculina Point , Red Baron Caves , Rikoriko Cave , Rock Gardens , Rock Lilly Inlet , Rogers Rocks , Sand Gardens , Scary Deep , Seal Rock , Serpent Rock , Shaft Cave , Southern Arch , Splendid Arch (Barren Arch) , Sugarloaf , Sunken Rock , Taravana Caves , The Canyons , The Gardens , The Labyrinth , The Rock , The Slot , The Tunnel , Tie Dye Arch , Trevor's Rocks/El Torito Cave , Wild Beast Point
